Crimea (pronounced /kraɪˈmiːə/), or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukrainian: Автономна Республіка Крим, Avtonomna Respublika Krym; Russian: Автономная Республика Крым, Avtonomnaya Respublika Krym; Crimean Tatar: Qırım Muhtar Cumhuriyeti, Къырым Мухтар Джумхуриети), is an autonomous republic under the jurisdiction of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name.

The territory of Crimea was conquered and controlled many times throughout its history. The Cimmerians, Greeks, Scythians, Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Khazars, the state of Kievan Rus', Byzantine Greeks, Kipchaks, Ottoman Turks, Golden Horde Tatars and the Mongols all controlled Crimea in its early history. In the 13th century, it was partly controlled by the Venetians and by the Genovese; they were followed by the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire in the 15th to 18th centuries, the Russian Empire in the 18th to 20th centuries, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and later the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union in the rest of the 20th century, and Germany during World War II.

Crimea is now an autonomous parliamentary republic which is governed by the Constitution of Crimea in accordance with the laws of Ukraine. The capital and administrative seat of the republic's government is the city of Simferopol, located in the center of the peninsula. Crimea's area is 26,200 square kilometers (10,100 sq mi) and its population was 1,973,185 as of 2007.

Crimean Tatars, an ethnic minority who now make up about 13% of the population, formed in Crimea in the late middle Ages, after the Crimean Khanate had come into existence. The Crimean Tatars were forcibly expelled to Central Asia by Joseph Stalin's government. After the fall of the Soviet Union, some Crimean Tatars began to return to the region.

Etymology of the name

The name Crimea takes its origin in the name of a city of Qırım (today's Stary Krym) which served as a capital of the Crimean province of the Golden Horde. Qırım is Crimean Tatar for "my hill" (qır – hill, -ım – my). However, there are other versions of the etymology of Qırım. Russian Krym is a Russified form of Qırım. The ancient Greeks called Crimea Tauris (later Taurica), after its inhabitants, the Tauri. The Greek historian Herodotus mentions that Heracles plowed that land using a huge ox ("Taurus"), hence the name of the land, and thereby asserting that these people named their land, and hence themselves, after an ox used by a mythical, Greek figure.

In English, Crimea is sometimes referred to with the definite article, the Crimea, as in the Netherlands, the Gambia, etc. However, usage without the article has become more frequent in journalism since the years of the Soviet Union

History of Crimea

Taurica was the name of Crimea in antiquity. Taurica was inhabited by a variety of peoples. The inland regions were inhabited by Scythians and the mountainous south coast by the Taures, an offshoot of the Cimmerians. Greek settlers inhabited a number of colonies along the coast of the peninsula, notably the city of Chersoneses near modern Sevastopol. In the 2nd century BCE the eastern part of Taurica became part of the Bosporan Kingdom, before being incorporated into the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC. During the first, second and third centuries CE, Taurica was host to Roman legions and colonists in Charax, Crimea. Taurica was eventually renamed by the Crimean Tatars, from whose language the Crimea's modern name derives. The word "Crimea" comes from the Crimean Tatar name Qırım, via Greek Krimeía (Κριμαία).

Throughout the later centuries, Crimea was invaded or occupied successively by the Goths (AD 250), the Huns (376), the Bulgars (4th–8th centuries), the Khazars (8th century), the state of Kievan Rus' (10th–11th centuries), the Byzantine Empire (1016), the Kipchaks (Kumans) (1050), and the Mongols (1237). In the 13th century, the Republic of Genoa seized the settlements which their rivals, the Venetians, had built along the Crimean coast and gained control of the Crimean economy and the Black Sea commerce for two centuries.

A number of Turkic peoples, now collectively known as the Crimean Tatars, have been inhabiting the peninsula since the early middle Ages. After the destruction of the Golden Horde by Timur in 1441, the Crimean Tatars founded an independent Crimean Khanate under Hacı I Giray, a descendant of Genghis Khan. The Crimean Tatars controlled the steppes that stretched from the Kuban and to the Dniester River; however, they were initially unable to take control over commercial Genoese towns. After the capture of Genoese towns, the Ottoman Sultan held Meñli I Giray captive, later releasing him in return for accepting Ottoman sovereignty above the Crimean Khans and allowing them rule as tributary princes of the Ottoman Empire. However, the Crimean Khans still had a large amount of autonomy from the Ottoman Empire. In 1774, The Crimean Khans fell under Russian influence with the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca. In 1783, the entire Crimea was annexed by the Russian Empire.

Crimea became part of Russia's Taurida Governorate and was the site of much of the fighting in the Crimean War (1853–1856) which devastated much of the economic and social infrastructure of the peninsula.

Crimea in the 20th and 21st centuries

During the Russian Civil War following the overthrow of the Russian Empire, Crimea changed hands a number of times and was a stronghold of the anti-Bolshevik White Army. It was in Crimea that the White Russians led by General Wrangel made their last stand against Nestor Makhno and the Red Army in 1920. On 18 October 1921, the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created as part of the Russian SFSR which, in turn, became part of the Soviet Union. Crimea experienced two severe famines in the 20th century, the Famine of 1921–1922 and the Holodomor of 1932–1933.

During World War II, Crimea was a scene of some of the bloodiest battles. The Germans suffered heavy casualties in the summer of 1941 as they tried to advance through the narrow Isthmus of Perekop linking Crimea to the Soviet mainland. Once the German army broke through, they occupied most of Crimea, with the exception of the city of Sevastopol which held out from October 1941 until 4 July 1942 when the Germans finally captured the city. From 1 September 1942, the peninsula was administered as the Generalbezirk Krim (general district of Crimea) und Teilbezirk (and sub-district) Taurien. In spite of heavy-handed tactics by the Nazis and their allies, the Crimean Mountains remained an unconquered stronghold of the native resistance until the day when the peninsula was freed from the occupying force in 1944.

On 18 May 1944, the entire populations of the Crimean Tatars were forcibly deported in the "Sürgün" (Crimean Tatar for exile) to Central Asia by Joseph Stalin's Soviet government as a form of collective punishment on the grounds that they had collaborated with the Nazi occupation forces. An estimated 46% of the deportees died from hunger and disease. On 26 June of the same year Armenian, Bulgarian and Greek population was also deported to Central Asia. By the end of summer 1944, the ethnic cleansing of Crimea was complete. In 1967, the Crimean Tatars were rehabilitated, but they were banned from legally returning to their homeland until the last days of the Soviet Union. The Crimean ASSR was abolished in 30 June 1945 and transformed into the Crimean Oblast (province) of the Russian SFSR.

On 19 February 1954, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union issued a decree on the transfer of the Crimean Oblast from the RSFSR to the Ukrainian SSR. In post-war years, Crimea thrived as a prime tourist destination, built with new attractions and sanatoriums for tourists. Tourists came from all around the Soviet Union and neighboring countries. Also, Crimea's infrastructure and manufacturing also developed, particularly around the sea ports at Kerch and Sevastopol and in the oblast's landlocked capital, Simferopol.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Crimea became part of the newly independent Ukraine, a situation largely unexpected by its population. This led to tensions between Russia and Ukraine. With the Black Sea Fleet based on the peninsula, worries of armed skirmishes were occasionally raised. Crimean Tatars began returning from exile and resettling in Crimea.

On 26 February 1992, the Verkhovna Rada (the Crimean parliament) renamed the ASSR the Republic of Crimea and proclaimed self-government on 5 May 1992 and passed the first Crimean constitution the next day.

On 19 May, Crimea agreed to remain part Ukraine and annulled its proclamation of self-government but Crimean Communists forced the Kiev government to expand on the already extensive autonomous status of Crimea. In the same period, Russian president Boris Yeltsin and Ukraine's Leonid Kravchuk agreed to divide the former Soviet Black Sea Fleet between Russia and the newly formed Ukrainian Navy.

On 14 October 1993, the Crimean parliament established the post of President of Crimea and agreed on a quota of Crimean Tatars represented in the Council of 14. However, political turmoil continued. Amendments to the constitution eased the conflict[citation needed], but on 17 March 1995, the parliament of Ukraine intervened, scrapping the Crimean Constitution and removing Meshkov along with his office for his actions against the state and promoting integration with Russia. After a interim constitution, the current constitution was put into effect, changing the territory's name to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

Following the ratification of the May 1997 Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership on friendship and division of the Black Sea Fleet, international tensions slowly eased off. However, in September 2008, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko accused Russia of giving out Russian passports to the population in the Crimea and described it as a "real problem" given Russia's declared policy of military intervention abroad to protect Russian citizens.

On 24 August 2009, anti-Ukrainian demonstrations were held in Crimea by ethnic Russian residents. Sergei P. Tsekov said that he hoped that Russia would treat the Crimea the same way as it had treated South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Chaos in the Ukrainian parliament during a debate over the extension of the lease on a Russian naval base erupted on 27 April 2010 after Ukraine’s parliament ratified the treaty that extends Russia’s lease on a military wharf and shore installations in the Crimean port Sevastopol until 2042. Along with Verkhovna Rada the treaty was ratified by the Russian State Duma as well.

Administrative divisions

Crimea is subdivided into 25 regions: 14 raions (districts) and 11 city municipalities, officially known as "territories governed by city councils». While the City of Sevastopol is located on the Crimean peninsula, it is administratively separate from the rest of Crimea and is one of two special municipalities of Ukraine.

Crimea is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea and on the western coast of the Sea of Azov, bordering Kherson Oblast from the North. Although located in the southwestern part of the Crimean peninsula, the city of Sevastopol has a special but separate municipality status within Ukraine. Crimea's total land area is 26,100 km2 (10,077 sq mi).

Crimea is connected to the mainland by the 5–7 kilometers (3.1–4.3 mi) wide Isthmus of Perekop. At the eastern tip is the Kerch Peninsula, which is directly opposite the Taman Peninsula on the Russian mainland. Between the Kerch and Taman peninsulas, lies the 3–13 kilometers (1.9–8.1 mi) wide Strait of Kerch, this connects the waters of the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov.

The Crimean coastline is broken by several bays and harbors. These harbors lie west of the Isthmus of Perekop by the Bay of Karkinit; on the southwest by the open Bay of Kalamita, with the ports of Eupatoria and Sevastopol; on the north by the Bay of Arabat of the Isthmus of Yenikale or Kerch; and on the south by the Bay of Caffa or Feodosiya, with the port of Feodosiya.

The southeast coast is flanked at a distance of 8–12 kilometers (5.0–7.5 mi) from the sea by a parallel range of mountains, the Crimean Mountains. These mountains are backed by secondary parallel ranges. Seventy-five percent of the remaining area of Crimea consists of semiarid prairie lands, a southward continuation of the Pontic steppes, which slope gently to the northwest from the foot of the Crimean Mountains. The main range of these mountains shoots up with extraordinary abruptness from the deep floor of the Black Sea to an altitude of 600–750 meters (1,969–2,461 ft), beginning at the southwest point of the peninsula, called Cape Fiolente. It was believed that this cape was supposedly crowned with the temple of Artemis, where Iphigenia is said to have officiated as priestess. Uchan-su waterfall on the south slope of the mountains is the highest in Ukraine.

Numerous kurgans, or burial mounds, of the ancient Scythians are scattered across the Crimean steppes.

The terrain that lies beyond the sheltering Crimean Mountain range is of an altogether different character. Here, the narrow strip of coast and the slopes of the mountains are smothered with greenery. This "Riviera" stretches along the southeast coast from Cape Sarych, in the extreme south, to Feodosiya, and is studded with summer sea-bathing resorts such as Alupka, Yalta, Gurzuf, Alushta, Sudak, and Feodosiya. During the years of Soviet rule, the resorts and dachas of this coast served as the prime perquisites of the politically loyal. In addition, vineyards and fruit orchards are located in the region. Fishing, mining, and the production of essential oils are also important. Numerous Crimean Tatar villages, mosques, monasteries, and palaces of the Russian imperial family and nobles are found here, as well as picturesque ancient Greek and medieval castles.

Most of Crimea has a temperate continental climate, except for the south coast where it experiences a humid subtropical climate, due to warm influences from the Black Sea. Summers can be hot (28 °C/82.4 °F Jul average) and winters are cool (−0.3 °C/31.5 °F Jan average) in the interior, on the south coast winters are milder (4 °C/39.2 °F Jan average) and temperatures much below freezing are exceptional. Precipitation in the interior is low with only 400 mm (15.7 in) a year. On the south coast precipitation is more than double of that, Yalta annually receives about 1,050 mm (41.3 in). Because of its climate, the southern Crimean coast is a popular beach and sun resort for Ukrainian and Russian tourists.

Transportation

Almost every settlement in Crimea is connected with another settlement with bus lines. Crimea contains the longest (96 km or 59 mi) trolleybus route in the world, stretching from Simferopol to Yalta. The trolleybus line starts in near Simferopol's Railway Station through the mountains to Alushta and on to Yalta.

The cities of Yalta, Feodosiya, Kerch, Sevastopol, Chornomorske and Yevpatoria are connected to one another by sea routes. In the cities of Yevpatoria and nearby town let Molochnoye are tram systems. Railroad lines running through Crimea include Armyansk—Kerch (with a link to Feodosiya), and Melitopol—Sevastopol (with a link to Yevpatoria), connecting Crimea to the Ukrainian mainland.

Places of interest

Livadia Palace - (Ukrainian: Лівадійський палац, Russian: Ливадийский дворец, Crimean Tatar: Livadiya sarayı) was a summer retreat of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II, and his family in Livadiya, Crimea in southern Ukraine. The Yalta Conference was held there in 1945, when the palace housed the apartments of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and other members of the American delegation. Today the palace houses a museum, but it is sometimes used by the Ukrainian authorities for international summits.

Mount Mithridat, - located at the city center of Kerch, Ukraine, was one of the nominees for the seven wonders of Ukraine. To the top of the mountain with the height of over 90 m (91.4 m) leads the Great Mithridates Staircase in a series of flights and balustraded terraces, which was built in 1833-40 by the Italian architect Alexander Digbi. A well-built road goes all the way to the top.

The mountain is named after Mithridates VI of Pontus, ruler of the Kingdom of Bosporus; for a long time he stood up to the great Roman Empire until he was deceived by his own son. After a long siege of Panticapaeum he tried to kill himself several times until finally was killed by the leader of his own guardsmen.

From the top of the mountain spreads a scenic outlook across the Strait of Kerch and the city. Sometimes it is possible to see the Caucasus shore. In the 19th century a museum was erected on the top of the mountain in the form of a Greek temple, but it was destroyed during the Crimean War. In 1944 the obelisk was built to commemorate the soldiers that defended Kerch in World War II

Swallow's Nest - (Ukrainian: Ластівчине гніздо, translit. Lastivchýne hnizdó; Russian: Ласточкино гнездо, translit. Lástochkino gnezdó); Crimean Tatar: Qarılğaç yuvası) is a decorative castle near Yalta on the Crimean shore in southern Ukraine. It was built between 1911 and 1912 near Gaspra, on top of 40-metre (130 ft) high Aurora Cliff, to a Neo-Gothic design by the Russian architect Leonid Sherwood. The castle overlooks Ai–Todor cape of the Black Sea and is located near the remnants of the Roman castrum of Charax. Swallow's Nest is one of the most popular visitor attractions in Crimea.

Vorontsov (Alupka) Palace - Constructed for Count Vorontsov in 1828-1848 by serf-masters according to the project of A.Blore. The Palace is built in pseudo-gothic style with the eastern style elements. Opened for visitors since 1921, the Palace-museum has the original interiors, collections of furniture, painting, and china. Bronzes, cut-glass ware. Around the Palace there's a wonderful Alupka Park, grounded in 1820 - one of the most known landscape parks in Ukraine. The park consists of the upper and the lower zones and has a large amount of landscape architecture.

Balaklava Nuclear submarine base - Located in the rocks off of the bay at Balaklava, submarines could access the base from both the bay and the sea alike. It took almost 4 years of round the clock work to develop the infrastructures beneath the hill in Balaklava. Beneath the surface is space for more than seven submarines within a 5,000 square foot plant along with a series of workshops, arsenals, offices, roads, and more. The entire creation, upon completion, had the capacity to shelter up to 10,000 people at a time in the event of a nuclear disaster, from which it was believed to be entirely safe.

An underground, formerly classified submarine base that was operational until 1993. The base was said to be virtually indestructible and designed to survive a direct atomic impact. During that period, Balaklava was one of the most secret residential areas in the Soviet Union. Almost the entire population of Balaklava at one time worked at the base; even family members could not visit the town of Balaklava without a good reason and proper identification. The base remained operational after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 until 1993 when the decommissioning process started. This process saw the removal of the warheads and low-yield torpedoes. In 1996, the last Russian submarine left the base, which is now open to the public for guided tours around the canal system, the base, and a small museum, which is now housed in the old ammunition warehouse deep inside the hillside.

Nikitsky Botanical Garden (Russian: Никитский ботанический сад) - is one of the oldest botanical gardens. It is located in Crimea, Ukraine, close to Yalta, by the shores of the Black Sea. It was founded in 1812 and named after the settlement Nikita, Ukraine. Its founder and first director was Russian botanist Christian Steven of Swedish descent. The total area is 11 square kilometers. It is a scientific research centre, a producer of saplings and seeds, and a tourist attraction.

The garden is the part of the Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences. It has subsidiaries in Crimea and Kherson Oblast. Its collection counts over 50,000 species, sorts and hybrids. Its scientific work consists in study of natural flora, collection of gene fund, selection and introduction of new agricultural plants for south Ukraine, Russia, and other countries.

The Inker man Monastery of St. Clement - is a cave monastery in a cliff rising near the mouth of the Black River, in the city of Inker man, administered as part of the sea port of Sevastopol. It was founded in 1850 on the site of a medieval Byzantine monastery where the relics of St. Clement were supposedly kept before their removal to San Clemente by Saints Cyril and Methodius. The early Christians are supposed to have kept the relics in a grotto which could be visited only on the anniversary of his death. William Rubruck described it as a church "built by the hands of angels.

The Byzantine monastery, probably founded in the 8th century by icon-worshippers fleeing persecution in their homeland, had eight chapels of several storey’s and an inn accessed by a stairway. The caves of Inkerman were surveyed by Peter Simon Pallas in 1793 and looted by the British in the 1850s. The Russians added two churches, commemorating the Borki Incident (1895) and the Crimean War (1905). The monastery was damaged by the Crimean Earthquake of 1927 and was closed between 1931 and 1991. During World War II the caves housed the officers of a Soviet army defending Sevastopol. Several churches were taken down by the Soviets.

Foros Church - The Church of Christ's Resurrection is a popular tourist attraction on the outskirts of Yalta in the Crimea, known primarily for its scenic location, overlooking the Black Sea littoral from a 400-metre cliff near Baidarsky Pass.

The church overlooking the village of Foros was commissioned by a local landowner to commemorate Alexander III's survival in the Borki train disaster (1888). The landowner's name was Alexander Kuznetsov; he was a tea trader from Moscow. Nikolai Chagin, a celebrated architect from Wilno, designed the church in a bizarre blend of Rastrelliesque Baroque, Russian Revival, and Byzantine Revival. The church was consecrated on 4 October, 1892 in the name of the Resurrection of Christ in a ceremony attended by Konstantin Pobedonostsev. The last Tsar, Nicholas II of Russia, and his wife prayed at the church on the day of the 10th anniversary of the Borki incident.

After the Russian Revolution the church was closed for worshippers, its priest exiled to Siberia and frescoes over painted. The building was used as a snack bar for tourists until 1969 and stood empty throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was returned to the Orthodox Church and went through four restoration campaigns under the auspices of Leonid Kuchma.The Foros Church is a popular wedding location. In July 2003 Metropolitan Volodymyr Sabodan wed politician Viktor Medvedchuk and TV host Oksana Marchenko in the Foros church. Anastasia Zavorotnyuk and Peter Tchernyshev also chose to be married here

Bakhchisaray Cave Monastery - The Assumption Monastery of the Caves is located in Crimea, Ukraine, near Bakhchisaray. It is a cave monastery carved out of a cliff. The date of the monastery's foundation is disputed, although local monks assert that it originated as early as the 8th century but was abandoned when Byzantium lost its hold on the region. The current monastic establishment dates back to the 15th century. In 1921 the monastery was closed by the Soviet government. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Ukrainian independence the monastery was reopened to the public

Bakhchisaray Palace - The Khan's Palace or Hansaray is located in the town of Bakhchisaray, Crimea, Ukraine. It was built in the 16th century and became home to a succession of Crimean Khans. The walled enclosure contains a mosque, a harem, a cemetery, living quarters and gardens. The palace interior has been decorated to appear lived in and reflects the traditional 16th century Crimean Tatar style. It is one of three Muslim palaces found in Europe, the others being Topkapi Palace in Turkey and the Alhambra in Spain.

The city of Bakhchisaray and the palace were commissioned by the Crimean Khan dynasty, which moved their capital here from neighboring Salaçıq in the first half of the 16th century. The palace's complex design and minarets were constructed by Russian and Ukrainian slaves in the 16th century under the command of Ottoman, Persian and Italian architects. Later damages required partial reconstruction, but the structure still has a resemblance to its original form. Some buildings currently in the palace were attached later, while some of the original buildings could not stand past the 18th century.

One courtyard contains a small fountain whose sad story so moved the Russian writer Alexander Pushkin when he visited it that he wrote a poem about it titled "The Fountain of Bakhchisaray".

Bakhchisaray Fountain or Fountain of Tears is a real case of life imitating art. The fountain is known as the embodiment of love of one of the last Crimean Khans, Qırım Giray Khan for his young wife, and his grief after her early death. The Khan was said to have fallen in love with this Polish girl in his harem. Despite his unmoved cruelty, he was grievous and wept when she died, astonishing all those who knew him. He commissioned a marble fountain to be made, so that the rock would weep, like him, forever.

Originally placed by the young woman's tomb in a restful garden, the fountain was transferred to its current location in the Ambassadors' courtyard after Catherine II ordered the annexation of the Crimean territory. Pushkin's verses are credited in part for ensuring the survival of the palace itself to date.

Massandra Winery - A pride of Russian wine-making history which started by Price Leo Golitsin, who created and turned Massandra Winery Vaults into the biggest wine collection in the world. The unique collection which includes bottles which are more than 150-200 years of age is hidden in the tunnels within Crimean Mountains. For the several years wine from Massandra collection successfully sold at Sotheby’s auction. Besides history and process of wine making which you will be definitely aquatinted you have an opportunity to join wine tasting in the halls of Massandra Winery where guests of the Crimea can enjoy the sunny drink of the Southern Coast and purchase the best wine of Crimean wine-makers.

The territory of Crimea has many hotels, villas, boarding houses, cottages which can be by right considered architectural masterpieces of 19-21 centuries. Most of these immense buildings are meant for accepting VIP-guests. Besides natural medicinal factors, Crimea has also a number of advantages that are very important for a good rest. Diverse natural conditions of the peninsula give an opportunity to do practically all kinds of sports and tourism, including winter sports. And during your vacation you can not only change the type of sports but the landscape itself. After excursions to caves, forests and mountains you can move to steppe and sail in Kazantip or dive in Tarhankut. For those who enjoy learning new things, sightseeing, active rest and fascinating excursions (and not just lying on the beach)